


A little like fate

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, First Meetings, Flirting, M/M, Shy Alec Lightwood, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 19:46:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14504196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: It was absolutely endearing that this gorgeous, tall man was so incredibly shy and despite not even knowing his name, Magnus kind of wanted to grab the stranger’s face and kiss him stupid. His lips definitely looked like they should be kissed a whole lot right now but he was fairly certain that wasn’t proper etiquette in customer service.





	A little like fate

Magnus was just finishing up shelving the last few books that had arrived the evening before when the bell above the door jingled almost violently. The door had flown open, more due to the storm raging outside that the person hurrying inside slamming it open with too much force, and it took the visitor a little more effort to push the door close again.

“Welcome to my humble little shop. How may I”—Magnus had whirled around in his usual, slightly overdramatic fashion and almost choked on the words as he lay eyes on an incredibly delectable, and very wet, specimen of men—“be of service?”

Maybe his voice had switched from his usual bored lilt to something distinctly flirty but it was absolutely impossible not to be flirty when face with tall, dark and handsome over there.

“Uh, sorry, I—I just—came in here to get away from that,” the man replied, gesturing towards the door and the storm raging outside. The rain was hammering against the big windows, the surely icy droplets whipped around by the strong wind and every now and then the flash of lightning brightened the grey day, bathing everything in an eerie light.

“I figured as much,” Magnus replied with a chuckle but he was incredibly grateful for the horrible weather today all of a sudden. It had been a boring day so far, barely any customers due to the constant rain, and now with the storm, there hadn’t anyone been here for at least an hour.

Magnus had dusted off a few shelves, drank way too much of his admittedly fabulous coffee creations and now was finished shelving all the new books. The gorgeous stranger was a more than welcome change in the boring lull the day had been so far.

“How about a nice hot drink? You look like you could use one. And a towel, since you’re currently dripping all over my floor,” Magnus offered and he knew he probably shouldn’t make offering a towel sound flirty but he couldn’t help himself.

This young man was absolutely gorgeous! Dark, messy curls, lashes longer and thicker than any person had the right to have, big hazel eyes, chiselled face and broad shoulders. And the man was tall, even a little taller than Magnus himself.

“Isn’t this a bookstore?” The man asked in return, confusion on his handsome face and Magnus couldn’t help but chuckle, gesturing towards the counter and the blackboards that announced the different beverages that were sold here.

“It is and it’s a coffee shop as well. You can either buy books or buy a coffee, sit here and just read one,” Magnus said with a smile and he was actually pretty proud of the concept of his store. If people fell in love with a book over a good cup of coffee, they were sure to buy the book and come back and even if they only read the books and didn’t buy them, Magnus still could make a living from selling amazing coffee. It was kind of a win-win situation for everyone.

“Oh,” the stranger muttered and his cheeks flushed a little, probably embarrassed that he hadn’t noticed the store was a coffee shop as well and his eyes flickered over the offered beverages written on the boards in swirly handwriting as if to decide what he wanted to drink. “Any recommendation?”

Magnus smiled at the almost shy sound of the other’s voice and he stepped behind the counter, reaching for one of the towels he had stashed in one of the cupboards and handing it to tall, dark and handsome with a sweet smile.

“Tell me, how do you usually take your coffee?” He then asked and he wouldn’t just recommend anything if he hadn’t the faintest idea of what the other liked. Magnus assumed the young man was probably one of those people who simply drank black coffee without the smallest drop of milk or grain of sugar.

“I’m...not much a coffee drinker, to be honest,” the man admitted sheepishly and his pale cheeks, glistening wetly from the rain, flushed a pretty shade of pink. He added an almost inaudible “too bitter” in way of explanation why he wasn’t too keen on coffee and Magnus’ ridiculous heart decided to melt a little at the shy expression on the other man’s handsome features.

“Ah, you’re a sweet one, then.” Magnus beamed even more when the other’s blush deepened at his words and, yes, he certainly was a  _sweet one_. “I know just the right drink for you, then. Just one more question: caramel, hazelnut or vanilla?”

“Uhm, I like all of them but...hazelnut, I guess?”

It was absolutely endearing that this gorgeous, tall man was so incredibly shy and despite not even knowing his name, Magnus kind of wanted to grab the stranger’s face and kiss him stupid. His lips definitely looked like they should be kissed a whole lot right now but he was fairly certain that wasn’t proper etiquette in customer service.

“Hazelnut it is,” Magnus chirped and started grabbing different ingredients, starting the coffee machine and placing one of the big mugs in it because the gorgeous stranger definitely looked like he could use a big drink after being out in this storm.

While preparing a latte macchiato with hazelnut and a little bit of vanilla, Magnus glanced up every now and then, almost getting distracted by the young man drying his hair with the towel. The man’s hair ended up being even more of a curly mess afterwards and Magnus was very tempted to run his finger through them, wanting to know if the felt even half as soft as they looked.

“So, since the storm doesn’t seem to calm down anytime soon and you might be here for a little while,” Magnus started while finishing up the drink with whipped cream and syrup, “how about you tell me your name?”

He smiled at the young man and then placed the cup with the finished macchiato on the countertop before starting to make another drink for himself. There was only a very slim chance of another customer stumbling in here today so he might as well take a break and talk to the handsome stranger that looked at him from underneath his unfairly long lashes.

“Alec. My name is Alec,” was the softly spoken answer as the man— _Alec_ —wrapped his long finger around the mug.

Magnus absently licked his bottom lip and blinked himself back to reality, keeping his mind from wandering off into very inappropriate directions at the sight of Alec’s strong hands and long fingers.

“Ale _c_ not Ale _x_? But it’s short for Alexander anyway, isn’t it?” Magnus inquired further, smiling up at the other young man who was currently quite fascinated by his latte macchiato.

“Yeah but nobody calls me that,” Alec replied but it didn’t sound unfriendly or like he actually minded his full name.

“Why, though? It’s a wonderful name for a wonderful young man as far as I can tell,” Magnus said with a playful wink and when his drink was done as well, he motioned towards one of the tables near the bookshelves and walked up to it, gracefully sitting down in one of the soft armchairs around the round little table.

“My sister started calling me Alec and...it just stuck, I guess. The only time my full name is ever used is when my parents are mad at me,” he admitted with a small shrug while sitting down in the opposite armchair, placing his mug on the table and glancing up at Magnus.

“Would you mind it terribly if I were to call you that as well? Without being mad at you, clearly,” Magnus said with a chuckle and he really liked the thought of being one of the only people calling the other by his full name, maybe adding a more positive connotation to it than ‘angry parents’.

“I—I guess not?” Alec stuttered adorably and then reached for his cup again to take a tentative sip of the hot latte macchiato.

Magnus watched the other young man and his lips curved into a smile, a chuckle threatening to escape his throat at the sight of whipped cream stuck to Alec’s upper lip.

“My dear, you have—“ Magnus motioned towards his own mouth to convey that Alec had something stuck to his lips. The other’s eyes flickered down to Magnus’ mouth at that, eyes widening the tiniest bit and cheeks flushing pink once again.

“Sorry, I have...what?” Alec asked, eyes snapping back to Magnus’ who couldn’t help but be obviously delighted by this development. So, the other man wasn’t just adorably shy and blushed easily, he was also very clearly interested. Now  _that_ , Magnus could definitely work with.

Instead of repeating himself or giving a proper explanation, Magnus leant forward and raised his hand, thumb brushing across Alec’s upper lip to clean the whipped cream off it.

“This, Alexander,” he simply said, wriggling his thumb before drawing his hand back and unabashedly licking the cream off his finger without breaking eye contact. Hopefully, he wasn’t being too straightforward with this, seeing as Alec was incredibly shy.

“Oh...I—that—thanks.”

Magnus was dangerously close to leaning over the table once more and kiss this adorable man but reminded himself that this was not the time. So he settled on smiling brightly at Alexander and taking a sip of his own drink, an Irish Coffee, before switching the conversation to a topic that would hopefully manage to get Alec to talk a little more about himself. “So, you mentioned having a sister?”

It only took one storm and a little bit of luck for Alexander to stumble into his small bookstore-slash-café plus one heartfelt smile of the other man to steal Magnus’ heart. It might have only been their first encounter but it certainly wasn’t the last time Alec ended up in his store.


End file.
